Ukraine and the Council of Europe have agreed joint actions to block Russia's aggression in Crimea, Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov says.

Ukraine's acting President and Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov has met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz to discuss and exchange views on the latest developments in Ukraine.
Joint actions with the Council of Europe have been agreed and an active dialogue about cooperation with the IMF is taking place, a statement from Turchynov said.

In the statement Turchynov added that Russia's aggression in Crimea is blocking Ukraine from starting the process of re-establishing its stability and reminded Russia that the international community would not leave Ukraine alone as under the Budapest Memorandum the US and Britain are guarantor states for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.
“There is an attempt to misinform Russian citizens and citizens of other countries on the issues related to the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities, events in Crimea and the false referendum that is being organized, or better to say falsified,”  Turchynov told a press briefing after the meeting.

• For his part, the Secretary General praised the recent reforms and progress towards a democratic Ukraine, expressing the council’s full support for the interim government.

• Jagland said they had come to Kiev to show their support for the territorial integrity of the crisis-racked country, adding that the Council of Europe is ready to send observers to the Crimea region.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told a press conference that he believed Russia sought to "undermine the foundations of global security and revise the outcome of World War II.''
Yatseniuk stressed that it is not up to the Russian tanks or military vehicles but to the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, and the people of Crimea to determine the fate of the region.
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Titus Corlatean, has also held a series of talks in Kiev with Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and Foreign Minister Andrey Deshitsa.
 http://www.aa.com.tr/en/headline/299239--ukraine-and-council-of-europe-meet-in-kiev
10/3/14
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Romania warns of independent energy policy after Nabucco failure

By Daniel Stroe – Bucharest
- The Romanian President Traian Basescu today pointed out he had informed the European Council that Romania will redefine its energy policy based on its own resources and without awaiting anybody’s approval, two days after the failure of the EU-backed Nabucco project which Romania was part of.

Basescu made these statements in a press conference at the end of the European Council in Brussels. “Without going into details, the option now without any doubt is Romania being forced to accelerate the evaluation process and move to exploiting the shale gas and the gas and oil already confirmed in the Black Sea” he said.


The president added he had expressed his regret to the European leaders over the failure of the Nabucco pipeline project which was designed to bring Caspian gas to Central Europe through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. Last week, Azerbaijan decided to instead transport its gas to Europe via another pipeline, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) at the expense of Nabucco. TAP crosses Turkey, Greece, Albania and ends in Italy.

Basescu went on to plea in favor of the shale gas extraction. “Romania has to take the energy strategy into its own hands. Romania has the chance to give Romanians shale gas at least 50 per cent cheaper before the date Nabucco would have been finished and gas from the Black Sea at a reasonable price”, he stressed in his press conference.

The head of state pointed out the central authorities in Bucharest now have to explain and convince the population that the fracking technology used to extract the shale has evolved very much compared to the images people saw in America where the drilling was at the beginning. “We have an alternative and have to put into practice” he added, underlining the shale gas and the Black Sea gas extraction could start in four years.

Basescu rejected the claims according to which Romania now seeks to join the Russian-backed project South Stream, arguing this would run counter to the country’s objective of diversifying its gas supply sources. “The most important message is Romania doesn’t want to remain dependent on a single supplier and we self-define our energy policy taking into account the failure of the European project. We can stay arm-crossed until Europe comes up with another project which we do not even know whether it will be successful” he highlighted.
- See more at: http://www.balkaneu.com29/6/13---
Related:

• Επελέγη το οριστικά σχέδιο του αγωγού TAP

• Nabucco project fails, placed by Trans Adriatic Pipeline project

• Endgültiges Aus für Nabucco - Konsortium entscheidet für Trans-Adriatische Pipeline

• Προκρίθηκε ο αγωγός TAP, σύμφωνα με τον αυστριακό ενεργειακό όμιλο OVM

• Υπογράφηκε η "Συμφωνία Φιλοξενούσας Χώρας" με την κοινοπραξία του αγωγού TAP

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• Νίκη Τζαβέλα: Σημαντική η όσο το δύνατον μεγαλύτερη ενεργειακή απεξάρτηση της ΕΕ από τις εισαγωγές ενέργειας .... επεσήμανε τον κίνδυνο μετατροπής της Τουρκίας σε μονοπωλιακό διάδρομο μεταφοράς ενέργειας